Setting Straight the Myths of Our Society

            This week’s reading, “Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us,” made me think of the movie "Shrek".  Beautiful, weak princesses?  Not in that movie!  Not only is Fiona an ogre, but who can forget the strength and bravery of Snow White and the gang backed by Led Zeppelin’s “The Immigrant Song”?  Many myths were questioned in that series of movies! 

            Yes, the old cartoons contained blatant forms of bigotry.  What a great learning opportunity!  Discuss how sad it is that people used to have such a limited view of other religions, cultures, races, etc.  Women being over-sexualized?  Discuss how silly it is.  Indians portrayed as savages?  Once again, what a limited world view.  I’ve always hated seeing black-faced entertainers in the old cartoons because I think it’s apprehensible and have made that known to my kids why I feel the way I do when that scene pops up in an old Bugs Bunny episode.  But, it is part of our history that I think kids should know about – people used to think it was funny; isn’t that sad? 

              As far as Disney’s concerned, I would hate to think that people would deny their children the opportunity to be entertained by such stories that have become so imbedded in our society.  I have watched the Disney movies endlessly with my kids and can say from my own experience that they realize that it’s just a movie.  Maybe my daughter isn’t waiting for Prince Charming because she has seen examples of strong women.  Maybe my son isn’t violent as a result of playing video games because he’s also exposed to forms of generosity and caring.  Sometimes, if a particularly horrible example of behavior is portrayed, it becomes a great learning experience (for example: “Can you believe he did that?   Doesn’t he realize how others will judge him for doing that?”). 

            Where cultural aspects are concerned, I think that the media is getting better at portraying all races, cultures, and religions in a more respectable manner, but it’s far from perfect. 

            I guess my overall opinion is don’t completely write-off fairy tales and Disney.  Enjoy them for the entertainment purposes and balance them with reality.  While we should be conscientious of the reading material we collect for our classrooms to be sure to include books that reflect people of all backgrounds in a positive way, communication is the key. 

"If everyone opened their eyes they'd see that every human is holy to someone."-Graham Nash

Evans, Igoa, & Hill

             Reading “The Silent Stage” really made me think, not so much about the use of giving students another imaginative creative outlet with which to express themselves, but more about how we interpret kids’ feelings.  For one, I hope that everyone realizes that new students often go through the same stages as immigrant children and may need for us as teachers to help them adjust to their new surroundings.  Also, I wonder if the author has a degree in psychiatry.  While I’m not completely doubting that she was able read such subtleties in the students’ stories, I’m concerned that teachers may try to do the same thing and be completely off base.  For example, sometimes a dog in a tutu is just that – a silly picture of a dog in a tutu.  It does not mean that the student’s gay.  I realize that the students were not completely capable or willing to openly communicate, but I would hate to read too much into something to the point that it creates the wrong impression of how the student really feels.  Please proceed with caution!

             On a completely different note, while reading the other two articles, it became blazingly obvious that I am not even remotely a techno-geek.  Yes, I can type efficiently, produce documents when necessary using Word, pay my bills on-line, and download photos from my camera to the computer but that about sums up my use of technology.  I did take all of the adult ed computer classes offered by MCCSC when my son first started school six years ago, but you lose is you don’t use it, and, really, I’ve not found it necessary to expand my personal use of all that’s out there.  Therefore, I am very interested to learn about incorporating these new tools into the classroom because I do agree with Ms. Evans that students not only are more motivated when given the opportunity to use these tools but also will be expected to use them in the real world. 

             The whole multimodal thing has really piqued my interest.  It makes me think of the book “The DaVinci Code”, which I had a hard time putting down while reading the original version, other than to Google the specific pieces of art referred to throughout the book.  When the illustrated version came out, I was thrilled and bought that, too.  How wonderful to have access to the pictures to help clarify the text!  Then, sadly, the movie came out.  I was not a fan.  I feel that it completely omitted the suspense I felt while reading the book.  It just felt rushed and empty to me.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have a much easier time understanding concepts in P540: Learning and Cognition in Education when I watch the YouTube videos that Dr. Bonk suggests each week.  They just seem to make more sense to me than the textbook does most of the time.  There are so many ways to communicate, and it’s interesting to be going into such depth about it through these articles.

A Temporary Sign of Relief

          I’ve spent the majority of today working on my MGRP and can now honestly

say that I have really enjoyed this project.  My topic, Reciprocal Teaching, is something that I’ve always been interested in, so it was a good excuse to delve deeper into the topic.  Also, I was able to use the same research information to create a paper for P540 – I multi-genred my multi genre report!  Yay!

          Creating the multi genre pieces was fun!  I so love the creative process and believe that this project covers many aspects of writing and expression that are important for students to understand.  I wish it didn’t take me so long to complete each step, but I feel that my rationale and reflections cover the necessary requirements as stated on the rubric on Oncourse.

Overall, I’m satisfied with what has developed and was able to breathe a temporary sigh of relief upon completion of this assignment before realizing that now I need to complete my student teaching information, write yet another reflection paper for P540 before creating a 2500-3000 word “super summary”, research information for the student choice assignment in math, teach and reflect on a math lesson, create a literacy invitation,  submit one more professional development reflection, reflect on and present my science lesson, and then there’s this textbook project for math.  Anyone know anything about it?  (Or major assignments I'm forgetting?!)

Yes, it was a temporary sigh of relief . . . 

“What A Character” and “Explore the Arts” both show us more examples of how to encourage creativity and enhance writing.  While some students may initially balk at the idea of creating characters or adding art to their MGRP, I think that both can be done in an interesting, entertaining way that will motivate students to use these crafts in their writing and presentations.

          While I feel that “Show, Don’t Tell” and create-a-character may be a bit challenging for some students, I do like the idea of exploring both as a class discussions and seeing how the students react.  “Seedfolks” gives some great material for character assessment.  The class character lesson, in particular, seems like something that would be fun to do and allow for a lot of creative input.  There are so many aspects to creative writing, and these definitely give students more outlets to express themselves.  While I can see how they contribute to MGRPs, I think I would be more inclined to include these exercises in their craft writing journals, though. 

          Adding an artistic side to their presentations opens up such a huge opportunity to allow creative expression.  Once they’ve finished their research and writing, why not encourage them to add some pizzazz or "character" to their presentation?  I agree with the author that the real-world expects more than just the reading of a report, and considering that they’ve supposedly spent months learning all they can about a particular subject, the students will probably have several ideas of things they can add to the sharing of their topic.  It gives the presentation more of a show-and-tell aspect, which most students tend to be enthusiastic about. 

          All of this does bring to mind once again, though, just how much time are the students able to devote to this project?  It appears that there are many ways to add to the MGRP if time is not an issue.

Poetry and Invitations

         I rarely read other people’s blog posts before composing my own, but it was interesting to do so this week.  Most of us had similar thoughts regarding the writing of poetry before completing Chapter 4: Poetic Surprises and now realize that the creation of poetic works doesn’t have to be so scary.  I really enjoyed the examples given and feel that they allow for an easy introduction to creative expression.  I feel that it’s important to expose students to a wide range of poems, and musical lyrics are a great way to get kids, especially older ones, to realize the emotions conveyed through the use of words.  Maybe that’s just because while I can’t think of many poems that I know by heart, I can definitely recite many song lyrics that I find to be exceptional and think that kids may be able to relate to them also. 

          The “I Am A Person” poems have always been one of my favorite parts of the beginning of the school year at Templeton.  It’s amazing to read how kids define themselves and how those definitions change through the grade progressions.  A third-graders’ self-perception is nowhere near as deep as a sixth-graders’, and I find it interesting that they are so willing to not only express themselves but also do so knowing that those poems will be posted in the hallway for all to read.  The use of poetry doesn’t have to be so personal, but I believe that kids appreciate the opportunity to share intimate thoughts in this accepted manner.

          On a completely different note, I have not taken the trade books class, so I am also a bit confused about exactly what a reading invitation is.  I’ll admit, I had a very busy weekend and thought that maybe I’ve just missed something, but it was very reassuring to me to read that others are just as confused as I am.  While I guess I can appreciate the information and the reflective thought questions at the end of the article, I’m curious to find out what it is that they’re talking about!

MGRP - The Ideal and the Realistic

Reading the text book chapters regarding Multi-Genre Research Papers, I started to feel a little jaded.  While the extent of research conducted by Ms. Allen’s students is definitely commendable, I just don’t see that level of involvement being the norm in every educational situation.  Yes, there are students with families who are just dying to be fully involved with every class project, willing to go above and beyond to be sure that their student is given every opportunity to excel.  Sadly, the reality is that there are a whole lot of families that would love to be that involved but are not capable of doing so, just as there are also students who come from families that really don’t care.  Some students don’t even have a family.  So, while I truly appreciate the extensive examples given in our textbook, I can’t say that I find all of the research examples to be all that practical. 

          Reading “The Donut House” brought a bit of reality back into the picture.  Not only do I love donuts, but also I created a business plan for a donut shop as my major project for my Business Management degree years ago.  The students in the article went through many of the same steps that I did to complete my business plan.  How wonderful to give kindergarteners such an all-encompassing world view of their community and how it works!  I wonder how many high school students, or adults for that matter, know how to apply for a business loan or file a building permit.  The use of applicable writing genres that the students may use in the future seems more useful to me than having them write poems or essays about a research topic.  Not that I don’t see the importance of exposing students to more creative writing, but I definitely believe that students need to know how to communicate effectively in their personal environments. 

          The inclusion of professionals from the community also shows the students that their education is important to more than just themselves and their teacher.  I hope that, as teachers, we reach out to involve community members in our lessons just as Mrs. Davidson did.  As a Cub Scout leader, I was never turned down when requesting assistance and/or information from various businesses and individuals.  Don’t be afraid to involve as many positive role models as possible in the education of your students!

Researching for MGRP

     My initial attempts to research an interesting topic regarding language arts failed miserably!  I tried every internet search engine I could come up with, including scholar.google and the library resources link from the L549 web site, but kept coming up empty.  Really – how hard should it be to come up with information regarding Tucker Signing Strategies?  I’ve seen this program in action and felt it would be relevant to my field experience working in a first-grade classroom, but all roads led to offers to purchase the book and/or program.  No, thanks. 

          I next tried to research DOL (daily oral language) since I’ve seen this program in action, also, and was curious to read what the general professional consensus is regarding this topic.  Once again, I was running into walls, despite the additional advice received via e-mail from Dr. Wohlwend after a somewhat pathetic electronic cry for help.

          Well, I have now rationalized my failed attempts away!  A classmate in P540:Learning and Cognition in Education started talking about Vygotsky and the use of reciprocal learning in the classroom.  That’s it!  That’s why I was unable to find any pertinent information on my initial topics – I was meant to write about reciprocal learning!  This topic allows me to really write a multigenre piece since I can use the same information for both my P540 paper AND my L549 paper! 

          Thank goodness for those wasted hours of research . . .

          By the way, I have had huge success researching multiple topics by starting at www.ncte.org.  As it is now, I have way more information than probably necessary but am really enjoying reading it all.  Hope you’re all feeling comfortable, enthusiastic, and productive about your researching, too!